Just got a MOXF8 and I don’t understand all the MODX hype, I tried both.

Using the MOXF in song mode you basically have a MODX in performance mode but you can use the keyboard for all 16 parts instead of only 8.

No FM-X but if you don’t need that I see no reason to buy the MODX.

You can create multiple “performances” in song mode using the “receive channel” settings and have SSS of as many parts as you want (only 4 in MODX).

MOXF has DAW control!

PHYSICAL BUTTONS!

Sequencer!

BUT

The UI is hard work… without the PC editor I’d have gone MODX purely for the touch screen. I use the J.Melas tools shame there’s no all in one app for the MOXF. Might look into making one, I program in my spare time but its a mammoth task.

The Montage range just looks like a blinged up Motif with a flashy Knob and a touch screen. The only REAL addition is FM-X

Yea, as time goes by and the dust and hype over the Montage/MoDX settle. It will be clear that MoXF/MotifXF is the superior instrument. The Motif is already a legend. This will only become more recognized over time, and Motif/MOXF will only be more sought after over time. The harder they are to get the more musicians will crave them.

I suspect this will not be the fate for the Montage/MoDX. Though these are nice performance synthesizers (very nice) they are not the titans that the Motif family are. Motif virtually defines the workstation synthesizer and if that’s what you need its the go to instrument. On the other hand the Montage/MoDX are improved derivatives of the SY77/DX
line of instruments.

Well, make no doubt about it the Montage/MoDX are beautiful instruments. However the Motif/MoFX are twice as beautiful.

You literally get more functionality for your money with the MoFX or Motif, and not just little more, you get a lot more!

Also, I’m a little suspicious of Yamaha’s motive for the Montage direction in the first place.

I think that a upgraded Motif/MoFX would have had an even more negative impact on Cubase sales.

The propaganda is that nobody really uses Motif/MoFX for music production, sequencing & sampling. And that the serious users do Cubase or Protools. That’s all marketing. I personally know a few folks with Motif and more than a few folks with MoX and MoxF they are take full advantage of sequencing and music production and synthesis capabilities of their instruments. I think some of them do in fact complement MoXF,Motif with a DAW, but no one I know has fully/partially replaced their instruments with a DAW.

Especially, the guys and gals that have working gigs!!!! All of them (myself included) take full advantage of sequencing and sampling of the Motif/MoXF during the gig LOL.

Basically Yamaha scaled down the Motif by taking out a boat load of features, added FM synthesis capability and called it Montage. And I’m starting to believe more and more that this was more about boosting Cubase sales and the upcoming Sequencing as a Service business model , than giving musicians what they really wanted. LOL

Cubase is not a musical instrument! Yamaha/Steinberg and others are trying to sell musicians on the idea that DAW + VST is not only the same thing as a musical instrument, but better.

That is precisely the argument that is implicit and entailed in the propaganda about the advantage of Montage/MoDX over Motif/MoXF,

Thanks a lot, i read it before but my main reason of asking was not SSS of Single Voices but rather 4 parts performances to 4 part performances glitch free.

Excerpt From the article:

“Changing an entire SONG MIXING or entire PATTERN MIXING setup will glitch, quite natuarlly - it is tons of data and lots of individual control functions - the trade off (benefit) is each individual MIXING program is extremely powerful… capable of housing 16 different sounds on as many as 16 different MIDI channels (of course you can layer multiple sounds on a single MIDI channel so that you can recall complex layers)… “

Thanks a lot, i read it before but my main reason of asking was not SSS of Single Voices but rather 4 parts performances to 4 part performances glitch free.

Excerpt From the artikle:

“Changing an entire SONG MIXING or entire PATTERN MIXING setup will glitch, quite natuarlly - it is tons of data and lots of individual control functions - the trade off (benefit) is each individual MIXING program is extremely powerful… capable of housing 16 different sounds on as many as 16 different MIDI channels (of course you can layer multiple sounds on a single MIDI channel so that you can recall complex layers)… “

AFAIK Yamaha modx is capable of doing this job in comparison to MOXF?

You’ve missed an important detail. The excerpt you posted is true, but seamless switching is done within a single Song or Pattern.

If all 16 Parts in a Mixing have different MIDI Receive Channels, then switching can only be done between single Voices.

However…
If groups of Parts are placed on the same Receive Channel, those groups can be switched between without a glitch. The equivalent of four Performances, each with four Parts, can be programmed within a single Song/Pattern Mixing. Each of those “Performances” would have all its Parts on a different MIDI channel. All four of the “Performances” would, of course, have to share the same System Effects.

The “Performances” don’t have to use four Parts - it’s certainly possible to mix things as you need. For example, there could be one group of four Parts, a group of three, two groups of two - and still have five separate Parts. In that case, you might have four Parts on Channel 1, three on Channel 2, two on Channel 3, two on Channel 4, and the remaining five on different channels (5~16) as desired.

You’ve missed an important detail. The excerpt you posted is true, but seamless switching is done within a single Song or Pattern.

Yes… so the seamless switching can only be done within a given pre-defined set of 16 voices… and also, only 8 of those voices can have insert effects on them.

True. Determining which Voices need Insert Effects and which sound OK with just System Effects should be done. In many cases that’s sufficient to meet the need.

You might have noticed that I haven’t inserted myself into the ongoing Motif-XF/MOXF versus Montage/MODX debates. The right model is the one that best serves a particular user’s requirements. I’m personally not a fan of touch screens, and I like features found in my Motifs that are missing in the newer models, but I’m not trying to convince anyone else that they should make a decision based on those factors. Those newer models might be good choices for a number of applications, such as for those who gig (I don’t) or who like to use a DAW (I don’t). That doesn’t mean I’m averse to interfacing synths to computers - I’ve been doing that for decades, using both commercial and my own software. My Motifs are connected via 5-pin MIDI, USB, FireWire, and Ethernet.

On the topic of SSS, I’m told the Korg Kronos has superior SSS to the Montage, and it has 9 synth engines and the montage only has 2, and it has Karma which can control in real time more parameters than the superknob, and it has incredible drum editing capability that would likely give you full and independent volume control over your composition. And from what I understand you can stream VSTs from an internal SSD drive on the Kronos. Does the Montage have a SSD? Also at NAMM 2019 Korg announced a new SE Kronos with new cool reddish color. Montage only comes in one color :( And I think (but not sure) that the Kronos costs less than the Montage. Korg Karma vs Montage Motion sequencing/Arpeggios? Hmm.... I hear Karma wins that one.

If you’re leaving the Motif family you should probably go for the next best synth that will serve your musical needs right? The more automation and features the better right? Its not even clear whether Yamaha will discontinue the Montage family in 2021 we know that the Kronos has legs right? And with the Kronos you can have it all, Workstation capabilities, 9 Synth Engines, streamed/integrated VSTs, multiple colors, big touch screens, and SSS. All of the feature boxes will be checked!!!!

As you may know I’m a Motif fanboy (ride or die) and my feelings on the Montage are best reflected in this song: